I'm actually surprised that the solar cell was an actual solar cell

The metal casing, discounting the hole for the solar cell, reminds me of USB enclosures for PATA and SATA laptop hard disk drives from around a decade ago, including the end-slide feature and the roughly bookish shape. Makes me wonder if someone was looking for a repurpose of tooling for such a previous product, added a method to punch the hole for the solar panel, and changed the endcap electronics.

i never understood power banks having these tens of thousands of mAh ratings as opposed to tens of Ah ratings which would make more sense. that's like people around pro audio calling a 4K rig a 4 million milliwatt rig!

I know nothing about electricity or circuitry or even engineering, but damn does this channel make me happy everytime I watch it.

You neglected to read the fine print. The solar panel will produce 100,000 mA...at the orbit of Mercury.

My dumb ass watching this video despite having no knowledge of boards or power: “right, right, I follow”

I love this guy's voice. It's so calming

I actually have a working 100.000 Ah power bank. It's parked in my driveway and stored in a car shaped case. Although it's a bit on the chunky side, it's mobility compensates for that. :)

I never knew fresh air contained 100,000mAh of power... :P

I've been loving these "diy power bank" teardowns!

Very good Clive, I was given one recently with a similar (? Its buried somewhere I can't get to right now) board. I looked it over and concluded that I wasn't sure if I would trust it to manage 320,000 mWh of any kind of Li-on battery. Of course, I graciously accepted the gift whilst mentally asking myself if it was worth buying a battery to put in it :)

loving your dry humour in commentary, Clive..... even your YT descriptions like the one 'what is inside Eneloop or Lidl Batteries'? (Fire, apparently) made me chuckle out loud!!!!

I enjoy watching you dissect and explain technology.

amazing how well you describe your tear downs 👏

I have learned so much from these videos. Thanks.

I don't know much about electronics, but that's a clever design from the mechanical point of view 👍🏼

100000 mAh 😄....😂 Requires backpack not supplied. May pull trousers down if stowed in pocket which may cause illegal embarrassment. Users have been warned.

I've had 2 of these powerbanks, both with cells already fitted. One said 100,000 mAh, the other sais 5,000 mAh. Both of them had large cells, almost fitting the entire space available, with the traditional silver coloured cell, with blue tape at the connections.

I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy one...

I would give my eye teeth for your knowledge on electronics. I know basic stuff from where I self taught in the 70's. Do you remember a monthly magazine called Hobby Electronics? I loved it, used to build their little circuits in a column called 'short circuit'. Would have loved to have gone into design type stuff but wasn't considered clever enough when I left school so never went further, deeply regret that, I got left behind with technology I'm afraid. I would love to see you design a small simple circuit from scratch, a flasher circuit or mini op amp circuit and explain why the component values are such and what would happen if they were different values. Just a thought, still loving these videos 😁😁👍👍

i was looking at these but shied away when i noticed there were like 10,000 variations of the same design "oh hell no"

At least it's an actual solar cell, I've seen more than a few that say ''with solar cell'' but it's actually a sticker. Most ''solar'' calculators are like that.

I have one just like this without the solar panel from 5-6 years ago that says its 20,000 mAh, I've already had a look in it and it is stuffed with 1 complete cell, I don't need it anymore if you wanted me to send it to you for you to have a look at? Fire containment pie dish may be in order if you want to have a gander at it :)

I love these videos it helps so much and fun to watch 👍

@bigclivedotcom You should use the live view of Google Translate, it does a really good job of translating Chinese and many other languages that would help with the datasheets. I used it to translate the one for this chip as a still in the video and it still worked. Great video ;)

great insight thanks

They aren't even trying to fool us How can such a small body be that high capacity? You'd probably only get about 10000 mAh maximum

To make a Big Clive powerbank, one must first paraphrase Jaws: "We are going to need a bigger book".

Hey. I Actually have a reputable 16K mAh powerbank from a reputable company with similar dimensions. I double checked it, and even opened it and there are 4 smaller slims 4k mAh cells connected together. Its actually quite nice.

Ive bought two of those from eBay, except with a cell and no solar panel. The case looks the same, except the solar panel cut-out, the same latching method too. They were advertised as ”20000mAh”. I doubt they are anywhere near that, but the cells they have are actually pretty big and fill the whole case. So for £7.50 it wasnt too bad.

There are non solar units with batteries already in them available with this same case. I’ve one rated 15000 mAh which feels like the case has been stuffed, though I haven’t taken it apart to see what it’s stuffed with. My guess is that it runs off the same board, since the usb sockets say 2A, but don’t put out 2A.

looking at doing something w/ solar but watching you solder makes me realize I've been doing it wrong lol

This is the diagram that you spoke of on the pink 5000 mAh Poundland video... same 4 led at the bottom right...

I picked up a couple of 10,000 and 20,000 mAh powerbanks from Maplin before they sadly closed down 😢

I have a couple of these book-style power banks, although mine have no solar panel, came with cells, and were rated 20Ah and 50Ah (I bought one of each from the same seller to see if there was any difference, since they obviously weren't going to be the full capacity). Both came out to around 7500mAh (7631mAh for the 50,000mAh version, and 7395mAh for the 20,000mAh one) and can supply up to around 1.8A. Decent enough, a 7500mAh cell and the charger/regulator for ~£10 Took the 20Ah one apart, and it has different circuitry to Clive's. Theres an anonymous 14-pin chip, an 8-pin chip marked 4606, and the DW01+8205A. Lithium cell is, as expected, completely unmarked. Mine also still havs connections on the PCB for a solar panel, marked SUN+ and SUN-, but they're unused.

More solar garden lights videos please. Should be plenty in stock as warmer weather is on the way.

solar power banks are great! hope the next versions have better charging capabilities. tis disappointing to have 2 usb ports yet i'll only seem to get good use outta 1.

Awesome, I was looking for a cheap alternative to the Tesla Powerwall.

You can modify the case to use as phone cover, it has a great screen opening at the top ;-)

If the batery voltage is not enough to turn on both LEDs in series, it can be used as a duplex. Pin driven high: lower LED on, upper off. Drive low: upper on lower off. Tristate pin: both off.

While waiting for something to burst into flames...this video will do just fine

Hey BC! Loving your videos! Just out of interest, what is the Cubot (battery) in shot..and what is it from? I ask as I have been a Cubot phone user for a number of years now and love them. Never given me a problem. Happy new year!! :o) xx

Good morning Mr Clive! Have a great day!

One problem of soldering to phone batteries is going to be gold embrittlement. That might be a relatively thick gold plate to withstand wear from battery removal and replacement. If so, the joint is going to be brittle. Especially with lead-free solders.

Neat construction! That orgy over ratings is not a new thing, I remember buying some 4200 watt PC speakers that had LM386's in them running off a PP3. Yeah....

Make sure you use the special "ligtht" LED when using that Chinesium chip, or the photons migtht fall out!

that multimeter is the same one at harbor freight but its a different color

i had that exact power bank and one day the battery that came in it expanded a lot, had to get rid of it

Hey Clive! Could you make a vid about taking disposable camera flash charge circuits and wiring them to a pulsed laser diode to make a makeshift laser bug-zapper? I think that would be cool!

That might be what I need for my robot...

I bought a couple of the 6x18650 powerbank kits (no batteries included, salvaged from laptop battery packs) and the rating on it is also ridiculous. Very hackable tho. I added an aluminum strip with 4x "1W/3W" LEDs from eBay, going straight to the battery in parallel through a low value resistor and a switch, and replaced the puny, PWM LED included with a laser pointer from a toy gun that just so happened to fit perfectly on the hole. If you move it fast enough you can see the ant strips from the PWM. The power output does not quite reach the 2.1 Amp promised, it is closer to 1.75 A @5.00 V.

Vu la taille de ce powerbank,ce se voit tout de suite,car il est impossible de mettre autant de lithium dans un si petit espace.

That looks like the exact design of my Fuse Plus You 7757 (terrible name) power bank that's only "5000mAh" but stuck in a different case with a crap solar panel on the side.

I bought a power bank with the same case but it doesn't have the solar cell, for $5 USD at a pallet store. It seems to work very well. 10,000 mAh. It looks like it has the same board, although I have't taken it apart since it works good. Now that you said it could have a smaller battery in it and some weights, I'm curious as to what is in it. LOL

I bought one a few years back that had a full size ( filling the case) lithium cell. Put it in direct sunlight and the LEDs did in fact completely discharge the battery. Shame I binned it, could have been a interesting autopsy candidate.

Hi BC I don´t know if you are aware but there are apps that can use the camera and translate "live" from most languages. Maybe that can be useful to you when reading non English data sheets and manuals. Always fun and informative to watch your videos. Ps. what does the third pad on cellphone batteries do?

Wow Clive, Making You’re Own Pad : Pad Built By Clive: Oh Yeah!❤

I have a bunch of those battery packs you get for video game controllers and portable consoles that replace the AA you would have used and I was hopping there would be a way to turn them into usb power banks? I should have pointed out the batteries they use can be charged in a standard AA/AAA charger.

How ironic, the ad for this video is for a solar powered power bank.

I purchased a "kit" from China last spring, it has the same board, but fully populated, one side has the solar charger, the other side has 9 LED'S soldered onto a while board with a translucent plastic cover to disperse the light. At the top is one of those pretty much useless magnetic compasses which might have appealed to me before the days of cell phones with built in direction finding devices. Actually the compass seems to work when out doors and away from the electrically charged environment of my chair/workbench/living-room corner. When I assembled it, I put in one bag type lithium battery recovered from an Android Tablet, when the discharge proved a bit to short, I added another of the same size, after charging both to 4.2 volts. The only real problem I have had was the 4 charge LED's, two of which have fallen off the board, being the two that indicate a full charge, I think I shall have to take her apart once more and replace them. The light is quite bright and will illuminate our living-room well enough that one can walk without tripping over things during our most recent power outage, so it is good for that. The blasted charging light comes on almost all the time when any light at all is visible.

Damm I missed a bigclive vid.. it's good I sumtimes just brows to watch a bit of relaxing Clive says the guy with 0,01% of electronics knowledge hahah

Looks like the battery's from the heated power bank and I am sure I have seen the same board used in another one.

Thank you Clive. Any comment on what the other pads on the phone batteries are for? +/- and ?? Many thanks

never tested the other output. just assumed it would be 1 amp. I wanted to see you test both outputs to be sure.

this looks awesome to use with in field deployment of arduino stuff. like a wifi enabled temperature sensor in the garden or mesh network LoRa devices for private communication

Would be interesting to see your shop an camera equipment.

I actually laughed when I read the words "power bank" and "100,000 mAh" on the title.

Just imagine how many times you could recharge your phone on a real 100.000mah. or use it to run your switch or something :P

U can pick good size polymer cell for 5-7-9$ on eBay like 2 tick ones will go fine in I hope

over 9000!!!!!

Some of these products use components that have failed normal testing. That solar panel had some bad solder connections, but it still put out some power regardless.

I’ve gotten my hands on a number of little power banks with solar panels… I’ve always been disappointed, they’re usually worthless when it comes to trying to actually charge the bank… might keep the LED working?

mister bigclive do you recommend any powerbanks? i'm going on a trip to norway,and i was thinking going for the "Aukey 30000mAh PB-Y3" reason for the big charge is well i got a plane ride ofc. and my S8 needs some juice; and norway is pretty cold so battery life might be a bit low,hope you or the community can help me out thanks!

To quote a great mind "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth- shattering kaboom!" I thought for sure Clive was going to hook the battery backwards.

@bigclivedotcom what protection circuit could you recommend to add in for unprotected cells

It must come from the same factory that makes the 800,000kV inverter that I reviewed 😁

Bigclive the best battery bank hands down that ive ever had is the xiaomi 10000mah power bank (The black one with micro usb). That baby really is what it is meant to be :) Not to mention it costs freaking 14€ xd

Great information Clive -Two Thumbs Up!!!! btw How is brother Ralphy doing?

Not a bad kit for the price. I think there are some 5000mAh Lipo cells that might fit. Depends on how the charge circuit is set up though.

Have you checked the open circuit voltage of the two solar panels? If they're different voltages you can't compare them with the short circuit current

What's that neat battery tester thing you have and where can I get one?

I've actually got a couple of these, Not with the solar panel though, and with a nominated 20,000mAh battery stuffed inside, They're quite a nice size unit for what they cost Interestingly, Mine might have a different chip/board design as it feels like it's resin potted into the case, rather then part of a seperate drawer, and they have a nominal 2.1 amp "high current" usb outlet alongside the standard 1A Unit

My co-worker had one of these. It was labeled 100,000 picowatts!! I just started laughing.

I also bought some solar cell power bank kits and it turned out that the "solar cell" was just a shitty photo diode that turned on the charging LED when it sat in the sun. The the solar panel just had a sticker that looked like a proper cell butt underneath was this tiny diode. It was really disappointing.

bigclivedotcom what protection circuit could you recommend to add in for unprotected cells

They should rate it a 2.5 MegaAH. (10mA x 5 billion years the sun has left x 1/2 for daytime only.)

I think close to 10000 is a realistic goal, not just 5000! Because i have a store brand battery (approx. 20-30€ list price, don't remember) that is that size and shape, same book style, same drawer, no solar cell, and it's got 9400mAh marked on it. I trust this store, and it appears to pretty much completely charge my 4000mAh phone twice, so it can't be that far off. The cell inside is HUGE, very tightly packed in there, it doesn't have much any space to move at all, and it's marked SONY 32 W US4069C4H 2 3583ED055VH12B. Mine can probably output 2.1A that are marked on the package, as it's the only power bank that i have that will power my Windows tablet - though it will get pretty warm. The tablet refuses to work off an older Anker also with 2.1A output, it's allergic to voltage slacking off. I actually might already have a test load and charger doctor so i can test it more thoroughly.

Ohhh, i might buy it for the cool case

Had to search for this one, after I found that I had purchased one almost like it, perhaps an update, or a downgrade would be more accurate. OK now the auction said you had to add a battery, I am used to doing that on powerbanks, as I have a quite of collection after watching your videos got me all interested in building them up from old laptop batteries. The one I got looked good nearly like one I already have that coste me 3 times the money, but had batteries in it, so I ordered it. It came in yesterday, what I got was a zip lock plastic bag with all the plastic components loosly tossed in, 4 tiny screws, the circuit board, and a board for the LED's. All that was assembled was the circuit board. Not a major problem, but that plastic looked so flimsey that I would not trust a childs toy built with it, but oh well it only cost me 7 bucks. There were no instructions, and you needed to furnish all the wiring since none was included, not a major problem I have lots of wire. So I put it all together assembled the case and pressed the button. NOTHING, well I know most of these require hooking to a power supply to activate the chip (I had installed a LIPO bag type battery claiming 3000 mah taken from an old tablet) So I plugged in the mini usb, and the smoke she rolled out! I quickly pulled the plug and tore her apart, expecting to see melted components, but I was lucky. One transistor has a blister on her, of course there is no marking on it, but a close inspection showed a tiny solder bridge across one of the surface mounted capacitors. I heated up my iron and cleaned that, then stuck the USB back in the socket and she began charging. I now have a working device, it may make a nice flashlight, and if I can find a couple more bag batteries, I think there may be room for at least one, perhaps 2 more, but for now I am happy that I can get some use out of the piece of crap. Here is that auction: www.ebay.com/itm/DIY-Waterproof-500000mAh-Power-Bank-2-USB-Solar-Charger-Case-LED-No-Battery-wo/282823276587?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=582167381790&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

the next powerbank i buy will just have 1 Ah but a solarpanel outputting at least 5 kW - cause pocket-sized solarpanels are of course that powerful =)

i thought on those cell phone batteries you had to use the middle pad somehow for the protection circuitry? is that not right and you can just hook up the + and - to anything and the protection circuitry will work? if so what is the middle pad used for?

That case looks like it would be perfect for an external SSD......if you had the external connectors.

I was waiting to see the glow bugs jump out like on james and the giant peach

That aluminium case looks rather like one of the slats of a shop roller shutter.

you should get a microcontroller solder it to the motherboard and see if it powers tthe big light connector

The 100,000mAh is aspirational: they hope that it will supply that much over a lifetime of charging and discharging...

check out the goodmans 10,000mah power bank . i had it open and it appears to be one massive cell i think there available on ebay

Hmmm actually I'm interested u put big load on one of the sides but what will happen if u put on booth ?

I have the same kit and I found a 8000 MAH cell that fits it perfectly. No room for a larger cell. The other LED is used to show when the solar panel is charging. Maybe the batteries that you are using are too weak. Mine will charge at over an amp and still maintains 5 volts, but not much over 1 amp.

I purchased a few of these type solar panels last spring.They are terrible.After 7 hours outdoors at about 70 degrees during initial testing they began to form bubbles under the clear top layer and lost some output.After about 2 months of only being put outside for 4-6 hours on saturdays they completely delaminated.I learned my lesson then about ebay solar panels from china or at least this style panel.I did have good luck in the past with monocrystal (aka blue crystal) panels from china that have lasted 5+ years and still work great.